Activities
2024
Turkish-German Double Master - Winter Semester 2024/25
The double Master's programme 'Intercultural Management' (IKM) was one of the first programmes to be introduced at the Turkish-German University (TDU) Istanbul in 2013. As part of the Flying Faculty Programme, the Chair of Intercultural Communication at the University of Passau is represented for two weeks every winter semester with two lectures on the topics of 'Intercultural Communication and Cultural Comparison' and 'Intercultural Management'.
This semester, Professor Christoph Barmeyer and research assistant Tuzienka Chenet Ugarte taught the students of the double Master's programme from 21 to 25 October and from 11 to 15 November 2024. In the introductory session, important theories and concepts of intercultural communication were discussed and important areas of intercultural research were explained using country-specific examples. Through the discussion of selected theories and case studies, supplemented by practical exercises and their own intercultural experiences, students gained a comprehensive broadening and deepening of their knowledge in the field of intercultural communication. The second week of lectures provided an overview of theories, concepts, developments, issues and forms of intercultural management in different academic disciplines and cultural areas, combined with empirical research findings from international work contexts. The students also had the opportunity to learn more about these topics from Mr. Kerem Arabacioglu, Vice President Sales & Marketing Building Technologies at Bosch Security Systems GmbH. Mr. Arabacioglu gave a lecture on “Intercultural work experiences at Bosch” on November 15, 2024 and gave insights into his international work.
Research stay in Montréal: Interculturality in the banking sector, entrepreneurship and international cooperation
From September 22nd to October 3rd, 2024, Prof. Dr. Christoph Barmeyer and Elisabeth Huber, Master's student at the Chair of Intercultural Communication, spent some time in Montréal, Québec, Canada as part of a research project. The stay, which was financially supported by the Bavarian Research Alliance, aimed to collect qualitative data on the integration of migrants through banking services at the cooperative bank Caisse Desjardins. The research focused on 14 interviews with employees of various bank branches that play a central role in the financial and ultimately social inclusion of migrants. The project was carried out in collaboration with Tobi Rodrigue, a doctoral student at the École des Sciences en Gestion of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
The research stay also provided an excellent opportunity to intensify international cooperation: Prof. Barmeyer and Elisabeth Huber, for instance, took part in two CEEII (Centre d'Études en Entrepreneuriat International et Interculturel) events to intensify their collaboration with Prof. Kerstin Kuyken (UQAM) and her team. A particular highlight was the joint lecture by Prof. Barmeyer and Prof. Kuyken on Intercultural Entrepreneurship on September 26, 2024, as well as the lively exchange with the local academic and entrepreneurial community, which provided new impetus for practice and research.
Another aim of the stay was to expand international relations at an institutional level. Discussions were held with UQAM's International Office in order to lay the foundations for future exchange programs for students from both universities.
Finally, the stay enabled direct contact with representatives of the Bavarian government in Montréal, which opens up opportunities for further transnational research projects and collaborations and strengthens long-term relationships between the Bavarian and Quebec sides for further cooperative research, teaching and projects.
Presentation of start-up projects: “Intercultural Entrepreneurship”
Under the direction of Professor Christoph Barmeyer (University of Passau) and Tobi Rodrigue (Université du Québec à Montréal), once again a binational, practice-oriented seminar with students from Québec and Bavaria focusing on the topic of “Intercultural Entrepreneurship” took place in early summer 2024.
As part of this course, the students had the special opportunity to develop their own innovative start-up projects in intercultural groups and thus gain experience with multi- and intercultural teamwork and the facets of founding a company.
The Québec Week at the University of Passau in May 2024 was an important kick-off and impetus for the projects, for which the Québecers traveled to Passau. Here, they collected and developed ideas together with the Passau participants at an ideation workshop and went through the first steps of founding a company. An early presentation of the interim results ultimately took place at the Québec-Bavaria Forum, the highlight at the end of the week together. This was followed by a virtual phase of collaboration, during which the groups independently worked out details of the projects and were able to gain valuable experience with virtual teamwork.
The pitches of the final start-up projects also took place in a Zoom meeting with the entire group and the two supervisors present and impressed with their innovativeness and relevance for society. The final projects were as follows:
- BridGen - Platform for simplifying contact between generations by facilitating tasks and services.
- Dabox - Smart community box that enables time-, money- and space-saving sharing of household goods and tools within communities.
- Swaygo - Platform for sustainable, personalized and responsible travel & activity planning based on approval/disapproval of suggested destinations/activities.
- SafeT by Safe Travels - Platform for safe travel, including safe route planning, emergency tools based in part on user-generated data and safety tips.
Through the interactivity of the course, students were not only introduced to the concepts and factors of interculturality and entrepreneurship, but also had the opportunity to experience working in intercultural (virtual) teams themselves and thus gain valuable, future-relevant experience. The focus was on mastering intercultural conflicts and miscommunication as well as creating creativity and synergies, opening up new perspectives on cooperation and living together in today's globalized world.
„Management and cultures: qualitative organizational research“
EURAM-Conference 2024: “Fostering Innovation to Address Grand Challenges”, University of Bath
For the 8th time, Professor Christoph Barmeyer, together with Professors Sylvie Chevrier (Université Gustave Eiffel, Paris-Est) and Mette Zølner (Aarhus University, Aarhus), organized a section as part of the EURAM conference (European Academy of Management). This time, the conference took place from June 25 to 28, 2024 at the University of Bath, UK.
The section entitled "Management and cultures: qualitative organizational research" was dedicated to researching cultures in organizations using qualitative methods. Based on the assumption that management practices are culture-specific and require adaptation to local cultural contexts, the aim is to examine emerging management practices while taking cultural differences into account. Topics included interpretative approaches to understanding social cultures, the integration of refugees into the German context, characteristics and abilities of bicultural people, third culture individuals as global managers and constructive aspects of paternalistic leadership. Philosophical or methodological questions were also addressed in the presentations, such as the topic of a positive ontology for understanding the careers of qualified immigrants or the self-reflection and methodological challenges and possibilities of field research in organizations. The Chair of Intercultural Communication was also actively represented by Dr. Martina Maletzky de Garcia, Tuzienka Chenet Ugarte and the external doctoral students Astrid Heindel and Birgit Gabriel. We would like to thank all participants for their interesting and valuable contributions and the constructive and inspiring discussions!
For several years, this section has been exploring the complex role of cultures in organizations using qualitative methods and has contributed to the development of a research community on intercultural issues. Next year (23-25.06.2025) EURAM will take place in Florence. We look forward to continuing the intercultural dialog and cooperation!
"Foundation activities in Uganda - How much adaptation is necessary?" Guest lecture by Christian Schläger, Hans Lindner Foundation
International activities of organisations are always subject to increased complexity. This applies to companies as well as non-profit organisations. Christian Schläger, Head of Youth Development at the Hans Lindner Foundation, answered the question of how foundation activities in Uganda need to be organised differently than in the German context. This has been a part of the lecture "Introduction to Intercultural Communication". Using the example of entrepreneurship funding, it became clear that the different cultural and institutional environment leads to a need for adaptation.
2. Québec-Bavaria Forum 2024: “Interculturalism and immigration in education and the professional sector.” “Interculturalité et immigration en éducation et dans le secteur professionnel”
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the relationship between Québec and Bavaria, the 2nd Québec-Bavaria Forum took place on May 17, 2024 at the University of Passau. The event dealt with the topics of interculturalism and immigration in education and employment as well as entrepreneurship in the context of Bavaria and Québec in an interdisciplinary manner.
The aims of the event were to present current scientific research results that have a direct connection to Bavaria and Québec, to conduct an interdisciplinary dialog and to promote networking between different target groups (students, entrepreneurs, scientists, actors from public institutions).
Through the varied program of lectures and discussion rounds in three languages (English, French, German), the topics were explored and discussed from different perspectives (practice-theory, research-teaching, Québec-Bavaria).
Here you can find more detailed information.
The Québec Day took place as part of a cooperation with the UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal), the Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi (Montréal) and the Wild Campus Rosenheim in connection with a joint course in the summer semester 2024 between the University of Passau and the UQAM on intercultural entrepreneurship.
The event was funded by the Bavarian State Chancellery and the Ministry of International Relations and Francophonie of Québec.
Intercultural days with the Université de Bourgogne
Under the direction of Professor Alex Frame and Professor David Bousquet, who run the Master's programme in Intercultural Management at the Université de Bourgogne (Dijon, France), 14 students from 9 countries (China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Russia, Japan, Ghana, Nigeria, Turkey, Ecuador) came to the University of Passau for three days from 06 to 08 May 2024 of Intercultural Days organised by the Chair of Intercultural Communication. The Intercultural Days focussed on the communication and discussion of the special approach of the Chair, constructive interculturality, the encounter between students from the Universities of Passau and Burgundy and the presentation and discussion of student theses in an interactive poster session. The Open Space method was used to deepen the approach of constructive intercultural management in mixed-cultural working groups. Further highlights were the well-founded and humorous lecture by the well-known Munich interculturalist Robert Gibson, who headed intercultural competence development at Siemens for almost two decades, as well as an evening reception hosted by CEO Dr. Fritz Audebert on the terrace of ICUnet AG, the largest and best-known intercultural service provider. Presentations by Alex Frame on culture and artificial intelligence, by Henriett Primecz on expatriates in Dubai and by David Bousquet and Martina Maletzky de Garcia on the integration of migrants with IncluKit rounded off the event. In addition to the substantive discussions, there were many opportunities for personal exchange, as intercultural relationships are not only cognitive, but also emotional. The program can be found here.
Research presentation and exchange at TBS Education
At the invitation of Professor Alain Klarsfeld, Professor Christoph Barmeyer was at Toulouse Business School (TBS) from 26 to 28 March 2024. The aim of the visit was to discuss research and publications with colleagues such as Professor Akram Al Ariss, Cordula Barzantny, Selik Bayraktar, Aurélien Feix and doctoral students in the fields of interculturality and migration. On 27 March, Professor Barmeyer gave a presentation at the research centre ("Qualitative research in intercultural management. A constructive approach of binational organisations and migrant entrepreneurs") about conceptual, epidemiological, methodological and content-related aspects of constructive intercultural management.
Visiting professor at the Université de Lorraine
At the invitation of Professor Yves Moulin, Vice Director of the IAE Nancy (Institut d'Administration des Entreprises), Professor Christoph Barmeyer was at the Université de Lorraine in Nancy and Metz from March 5 to 15, 2024. Prof. Barmeyer taught various Master's courses on constructive and intercultural management in English and French, exchanged ideas with students and colleagues and attended joint theater events at the interface of culture and organization, which were co-organized by students. At the CEREFIGE research center (Centre Européen de Recherche en Économie Financière et en Gestion des Entreprises), he had the opportunity to present his research on constructive interculturality in organizations and discuss it with French colleagues.
35 years of cooperation between Québec and Bavaria
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the cooperation between Québec and Bavaria, Professor Christoph Barmeyer was invited by the Québec government to participate in the "Forum Bavaria-Québec" in Munich on 21 February 2024 and had the opportunity to present his diverse research and teaching projects on Québec to a broad audience from politics, business and academia in conversation with Dr Benedikt Miklós, Attaché for Politics, Public Affairs and Cooperation. The projects included the transfer of the European co-operative model from Europe to Québec, the creative cities of Munich and Montréal and the creativity of migrant entrepreneurship in Québec and Bavaria. They were reflected in international events in Passau and Montréal as well as in publications in German, English and French. Professor Barmeyer's academic activities on Québec were supported as a student at the University of Passau by a scholarship from the Bavarian Minister President and as a doctoral student at the University of Saarland by the "Prix d'Excellence of the Government of Québec". Current research projects were funded by the Bavarian Research Alliance and the MRIF (Fonds d'initiatives locales).
Bavaria is one of Québec's closest partners worldwide. The two regions work closely together in the fields of science, technology, business, politics, education and culture and are a prime example of intercultural, synergetic cooperation. During the event at the Prinz-Carl-Palais, the most important joint projects in the fields of digital innovation, research cooperation and cultural exchange were presented from the 800 projects that have been implemented since the partnership was established.
The Minister of International Relations and Francophonie of Quebec, Martine Biron, and the Bavarian Minister of State for European Affairs and International Relations, Eric Beißwenger, also signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation during the event.
© Photos: Bayer. Staatskanzlei/Marc Müller
Defense of Tobias Schumacher's doctoral thesis at the ESCP Berlin
On February 16, 2024, Professor Christoph Barmeyer took part in the defense of Tobias Schumacher's dissertation at ESCP Berlin as a second reviewer at the invitation of his first supervisor, Professor Marion Festing. The starting point for the dissertation "Developing Cultural Intelligence. An Experiential Learning Perspective on Serious Game-Centered Education," was to design and test new and innovative didactic forms for teaching intercultural competence, such as intercultural simulation games. A relevant approach of this dissertation is the acquisition and promotion of cultural intelligence through serious games based on experiential learning. Through its conceptual approach, its variety of methods and its original implementation, the work makes an important contribution to research into intercultural competence development and contributes to the mutual transfer of knowledge between theory and practice.
Teaching stay at the Aix-Marseille Université
From 22 to 26 January 2024, Dr. Sina Großkopf spent five days at the French University of Aix-Marseille, on the Aix-en-Provence campus, to teach various Bachelor's and Master's courses on "Intercultural Communication, Migration and Organizational Resources" and "Challenges and Opportunities in Intercultural Communication". This cooperation is under the direction of Dr. Catherine Teissier, who made this teaching stay possible and, together with Professor Barmeyer, coordinates the double master's program between Passau and Aix-en-Provence for many years. In addition, Dr. Großkopf was in contact with other lecturers at the university during this week. As part of the Erasmus+ mobility program for lecturers, she was able to strengthen cooperation with the partner university in Aix-en-Provence and experience teaching content and methods in a different cultural context. Special thanks goes to the International Office in Passau and Aix for coordinating and successfully facilitating this mobility experience.
Intercultural Entrepreneurship - a joint virtual course between Jerusalem and Passau
Together with Dr. Tali Hadasa Blank (Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Management Department, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem) and Dr. Olga Goncharova (Chair of International Management, Kyiv National Economic University and DAAD-Lecturer, Chair of Organization, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Passau), Prof. Dr. Christoph Barmeyer organized a joint virtual course between the Hadassah Academic College/Hadassah Innovation Center and the University of Passau. The course was designed to provide an exceptional opportunity to analyze and experience the challenges and benefits of entrepreneurship on an international level. The participants from Passau and Jerusalem worked on a case study based on a real innovative entrepreneurial project, illustrating the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and the innovative solutions they found. Coming from different cultural backgrounds and disciplines, the students worked together in virtual teams and produced a video movie about the startups: Petcube, one of the most successful Ukrainian High-Tech startups, allowing pet-owners being at work to observe, play and feed their favorites left at home alone, through the special devices connected with Internet. Sinsila center is located in the heart of East Jerusalem, on the terraces of the Central Library. It is dedicated to educate, inspire, create with, and empower, local communities. https://muslala.org/en/sinsila/) and Muslala, which is a nonprofit organization established in 2009 by artists, residents, and community activists. Muslala (https://muslala.org/en/) promotes the transformation of Jerusalem into an open and creative society in which every person is enabled to express and fulfill himself or herself.
This highly interactive course not only introduced the students to the theories and concepts of interculturality and entrepreneurship, but also gave them the opportunity to experience working in an intercultural team and gain valuable international and virtual collaboration experience.
Lecture and workshop on qualitative case study research
Professor Eric Milliot from the University of Nantes stayed at the Chair of Intercultural Communication from 13 to 18 January 2024 with his doctoral student Qin Gao. The aim of the visit was to engage in academic dialogue with doctoral and Master's students on the topic of qualitative research and case studies. Professor Milliot gave a lecture and led a workshop on "Paradigmatic Alignment for Case Study Research in Social Sciences". This focused on the process of implementing case study methods using a conceptual framework that describes the basic paradigmatic features of different methods to underpin the overall coherence of case study-based research. PhD student Qin Gao presented the initial theoretical and methodological elements of her doctoral thesis on adaptation and innovation of a Chinese organisation in France from the perspective of cross-cultural management. In addition, the doctoral and Master's students had the opportunity during the three days to exchange views bilaterally on specific methodological issues relating to their research and to receive appropriate support. A return visit by the Passau students to the University of Nantes is planned in order to continue the fruitful dialogue. The photos provide an insight into the days spent together.
The research cooperation with the Université Nantes and this research stay were kindly supported financially by the Bavarian-French University Centre, Bayerisch-Französisches Hochschulzentrum (BayFrance).
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